That is what President Donald Trump calls the press. He and his team also say the news media provide us with “fake news.”

Those are serious charges.

The term “enemy of the people” brings to my mind a classic play, in which someone condemned as an enemy of the people is actually an ally of the people. Stay with me.

First, let’s examine the terms “fake news” and “enemy of the people.”

During the presidential campaign, “fake news” meant fictitious items disguised as news, usually on social media and usually targeting Hillary Clinton. Sometimes “fake news” was picked up by traditional media as real news.

For example, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told his listeners a postal worker had ripped up absentee ballots marked for Trump. He said he saw it on the internet.

The story was fake, posted by a satirical platform called Weird Twitter.

The Trump team appropriated the term “fake news” to mean news and commentary that is unfavorable to the new administration.

Not fictitious, just unfavorable. There is a big difference.

An example of the new “fake news” are reports that the first weeks of the Trump administration are “chaotic.” In fact, they are.

Another example are reports that before the election Jeff Sessions, who was then a Senate supporter of Trump and is now attorney general, met privately with the Russian ambassador. In fact, he did.

What does Trump mean by “enemy of the people?”

He seems to be saying that by spreading “fake news” — meaning news unfavorable to his administration — the press is a threat to America.

In a recent speech to CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump used both terms to attack the news media.

He said that because they report “fake news,” the news media are “the enemy.”

He went on to say, “We’re going to do something about it.” He did not elaborate.

The term “enemy of the people” has often been invoked by oppressive regimes to justify the elimination of opponents.

Leaders of the French Revolution were the first to use it. Lenin used it. Stalin used it. Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev banished the term as too toxic.

“An Enemy of the People” is the name of a drama written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in the1880s and adapted by Arthur Miller in the 1950s.

The title is ironic. It refers to a doctor who warns his town that water in its money-making spa is contaminated.

Worried that visitors will stop coming to the spa if word gets out, the mayor and his supporters turn the town against the doctor.

When Trump denounces the press as the “enemy of the people,” remember that the doctor in “An Enemy of the People” has the guts to tell the truth.

Paul Janensch, of Bridgeport, was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University. His weekly “Memo on the Media” can be heard at wqun.com. Email: paul.janensch@quinnipiac.edu.